Mapping Submerged Landscapes Using Multibeam Bathymetric Data: a case study from the north coast of Ireland

This paper outlines work currently being undertaken to reconstruct submerged archaeological landscapes off the north coast of Ireland. This research uses the recently‐completed Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS), which has provided full‐coverage high‐resolution multibeam bathymetric data for the sea‐bed off the north coast. This data has been examined for evidence of past sea‐level change and been used to produce palaeo‐geographic reconstructions of the past landscape, which in turn have facilitated the identification of ten areas of high archaeological potential. The results presented here will form the basis of a future programme of archaeological survey and prospection. © 2010 The Authors     

The last glaciers in part of the South East Grampians

In an area of 400 sq km in the south east Grampians including Glen Esk, Glen Clova and part of Glen Muick the limits of former corrie glaciers, valley glaciers and a plateau ice‐cap with associated outlet glaciers have been mapped. The limits of the former corrie and valley glaciers are often clearly defined by end moraines, boulder‐strewn ground, the down‐valley termination of hummocky moraines and/or the limits of meltwater channel systems, while in suitable locations outwash terraces usually occur. The glaciers are considered to have formed during the Loch Lomond (pollen zone III) Readvance, when new glaciers developed in upland sources following complete ice‐sheet decay. The readvance was accompanied in granite areas by the formation of large solifluction lobes, these lobes being found only outside the mapped ice limits. The interpretations presented are not in accord with those recently given by D. E. Sugden for the western Cairngorms.     

The Origins of the Neolithic Along the Atlantic Coast of Continental Europe: A Survey

The main aim of this work is to compare the processes of transition to the Neolithic along the Atlantic coasts of continental Europe. Archaeological data on the late Mesolithic and the early Neolithic in the best known regions (central and southern Portugal, Cantabrian Spain, Atlantic France, the shores of the North Sea, and southern Scandinavia) are discussed. The transition to the Neolithic in Atlantic Europe can be viewed as a relatively late phenomenon, with several interesting particularities. Among those, we point out the fundamentally indigenous character of the processes; the existence of a long availability phase, in which hunter-gatherer groups maintained contact with neighboring agriculturalists and probably were familiar with farming and animal husbandry without applying them in a systematic way; and the later development of megalithic monumental funerary architecture. Finally, the main hypotheses so far proposed to explain the change are contrasted with the available evidence: those that argue that the change derives from economic disequilibrium, and those that opt for the development of social inequality as the fundamental cause.     

Radiocarbon chronology and the correlation of hunter–gatherer sociocultural change with abrupt palaeoclimate change: the Middle Mesolithic in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt area of northwest Europe

Recent refinements in radiocarbon sampling procedures have enabled a more robust absolute chronology for the Mesolithic in the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt area of northwest Europe. These refinements have allowed for a new chronological sub-division of the Early and Middle Mesolithic periods. Results of this research have indicated that the Middle Mesolithic period was bound by two Early Holocene cooling events, one at 9300 cal. BP and the other at 8200 cal. BP. These results enable a critical evaluation of the role of chronological precision in the investigation of contemporaneity between abrupt climate change and hunter–gatherer sociocultural change. In this paper we focus on the variable chronological resolution of the Early to Middle and Middle to Late Mesolithic transitions in the RMS area, and the role of this variable resolution in our ability to investigate the contemporaneity of these two transitions with different Early Holocene abrupt cooling events. This paper highlights two central challenges facing archaeological investigations of the relationships between climate and culture change: first, the requirement of tight chronological overlap between climate and culture change events and consideration of leads and lags in ecosystem and subsequent human responses to climate change; second, the equifinality problem and the separation of the impact of gradual from punctuated environmental change on human societies.     

山东寿光市北部沿海环境考古报告

2001年,山东大学考古系等在山东寿光市沿海进行了一次环境考古调查和试掘,本次工作预设两个目的,即解决当地先秦时期考古文化的发展序列,以及探索遗址分布与中全新世海岸线变迁的关系。结果表明,寿光沿海地带的先秦文化序列为大汶口-龙山-商周时期文化,年代约在公元前4000～221年间。再根据考古和自然学科资料,寿光沿海的中全新世海侵在公元前4500～前3000年达到最大范围,之后海面开始下降进入海退期,并在公元前2300年前后和公元前1400年间有过两次停顿期。这对山东北部沿海今后的环境考古将有重要学术意义。     

The Harbour at Ptolemais: Hellenistic City of the Libyan Pentapolis

This article describes fieldwork undertaken in 1972 at the harbour of the Hellenistic city of Ptolemais at Tolmeita in Cyrenaica, Libya. This survey has shown that the city possessed a sophisticated Hellenistic harbour installation, now submerged by some 2 m. It consisted of a small fishing harbour and a larger commercial harbour protected by extensive stone breakwaters built around two offshore islands. Between the harbours, remains were found under water of an extensive block‐built quay connected to one island, where there was a system of submerged rock‐cut tanks. These are interpreted as the foundations of a fish‐processing factory. Changes in sea‐level are also discussed.     

Making hay while the sun shines? Socio-economic change,cereal production and climatic deterioration in Early Medieval Ireland

The Early Medieval period in Ireland (c. A.D. 400–1150) has been the subject of much archaeological and historical study. The recent application of various forms of archaeological sciences, as well as palaeoenvironmental studies, to the archaeological record have, however, added fresh impetus to this study area. It seems increasingly evident that significant changes to economy and society occurred during this period and were not recorded in detail in the contemporary documentary sources. This paper will attempt to outline those changes and to assess whether, or to what extent, they were influenced by climate change.     

New models of North West European Holocene palaeogeography and inundation

This paper presents new 500 year interval palaeogeographic models for Britain, Ireland and the North West French coast from 11000 cal. BP to present. These models are used to calculate the varying rates of inundation for different geographical zones over the study period. This allows for consideration of the differential impact that Holocene sea-level rise had across space and time, and on past societies. In turn, consideration of the limitations of the models helps to foreground profitable areas for future research.